metric americans

[mike]

I just converted my cyclocomputer from miles to kilometers. I am
hoping an old dog can learn a new trick.
I made the change and went for a spin, its a blast to see 30
on the computer.

Just wondering are there other metric americans out there???

also my year-end totals look like 206 hours for a distance of
5665k. (3520 miles for the non-metric americans)

Metric Mike

[Paul Hobson]

mike wrote:
> I just converted my cyclocomputer from miles to kilometers. I am
> hoping an old dog can learn a new trick.
> I made the change and went for a spin, its a blast to see 30
> on the computer.
>
> Just wondering are there other metric americans out there???
>
> also my year-end totals look like 206 hours for a distance of
> 5665k. (3520 miles for the non-metric americans)
>
> Metric Mike

I hate using English units. Every time I have to work a problem in an
engineering situation in English units, I throw up a little bit in my
mouth and a little piece of me dies on the inside.

--
Paul M. Hobson
Georgia Institute of Technology
..:change the f to ph to reply:.

[Sorni]

mike wrote:

> I just converted my cyclocomputer from miles to kilometers.

I hope the NSA sees this! Get him, boys...

<eg> 8-O <eg>

[di]

"mike" > wrote in message
news:TWxtf.5978$7x.644@trnddc03...
>I just converted my cyclocomputer from miles to kilometers. I am
> hoping an old dog can learn a new trick.
> I made the change and went for a spin, its a blast to see 30
> on the computer.
>
> Just wondering are there other metric americans out there???
>
> also my year-end totals look like 206 hours for a distance of
> 5665k. (3520 miles for the non-metric americans)
>
> Metric Mike

I'm glad you're so much smarter than the rest of us. (BTW, been using the
metric system since 1964, still prefer the old inch system)

If you want to see 30 or more on the computer, just add an extra magnet to
the wheel.

[Neil Brooks]

"di" > wrote:

>
>"mike" > wrote in message
>news:TWxtf.5978$7x.644@trnddc03...
>>I just converted my cyclocomputer from miles to kilometers. I am
>> hoping an old dog can learn a new trick.
>> I made the change and went for a spin, its a blast to see 30
>> on the computer.
>>
>> Just wondering are there other metric americans out there???
>>
>> also my year-end totals look like 206 hours for a distance of
>> 5665k. (3520 miles for the non-metric americans)
>>
>> Metric Mike
>
>I'm glad you're so much smarter than the rest of us.

If I get the time, I'm going to do a search. *Somewhere* in the
history of Usenet, you must have posted something that *wasn't*
mean-spirited, huh? I mean, just by sheer probability, if nothing
else.

Happy New Year, Di!
--
Live simply so that others may simply live

[Neil Brooks]

Neil Brooks > wrote:

>"di" > wrote:
>
>>
>>"mike" > wrote in message
>>news:TWxtf.5978$7x.644@trnddc03...
>>>I just converted my cyclocomputer from miles to kilometers. I am
>>> hoping an old dog can learn a new trick.
>>> I made the change and went for a spin, its a blast to see 30
>>> on the computer.
>>>
>>> Just wondering are there other metric americans out there???
>>>
>>> also my year-end totals look like 206 hours for a distance of
>>> 5665k. (3520 miles for the non-metric americans)
>>>
>>> Metric Mike
>>
>>I'm glad you're so much smarter than the rest of us.
>
>If I get the time, I'm going to do a search. *Somewhere* in the
>history of Usenet, you must have posted something that *wasn't*
>mean-spirited, huh? I mean, just by sheer probability, if nothing
>else.
>
>Happy New Year, Di!

Oh, yeah. One other thing: the Sooners WON, for $hit's sake.
Shouldn't you be happy??
--
Live simply so that others may simply live

[mark]

"mike" wrote ...
>I just converted my cyclocomputer from miles to kilometers. I am
> hoping an old dog can learn a new trick.
> I made the change and went for a spin, its a blast to see 30
> on the computer.
>
> Just wondering are there other metric americans out there???
>
> also my year-end totals look like 206 hours for a distance of
> 5665k. (3520 miles for the non-metric americans)
>
> Metric Mike

I have been using kilometers instead of miles on various cycle computers
ever since I discovered cycle computers in the mid '80s, I don't know why. I
did live in Germany as a child, so maybe I'm trying to return to my roots?

And yes, it is a blast to see 30 or (rarely) 40 on the computer, and it's
even more fun to see max speed readings of 80+ after a long, fast downhill!

Haven't reached 100 yet, but one of these days...
--
mark

[The Wogster]

mike wrote:
> I just converted my cyclocomputer from miles to kilometers. I am
> hoping an old dog can learn a new trick.
> I made the change and went for a spin, its a blast to see 30
> on the computer.
>
> Just wondering are there other metric americans out there???
>
> also my year-end totals look like 206 hours for a distance of
> 5665k. (3520 miles for the non-metric americans)

Metric is like anything else, once you get used to it, it makes loads of
sense. Wanna see something funny, when you see to some yahoo from a
redneck state, looking for a place, and you say something like "yeah
Freds diner, you go about 5km down the road here, turn right onto Fleet
street and it's about 1/2km down on the left side of the street....
They will look at you as if your from another planet, this works even
better if your on a road bike, wearing full biker gear....

W

[Matt O'Toole]

On Sat, 31 Dec 2005 16:00:51 +0000, mike wrote:

> I just converted my cyclocomputer from miles to kilometers. I am hoping an
> old dog can learn a new trick. I made the change and went for a spin, its
> a blast to see 30 on the computer.
>
> Just wondering are there other metric americans out there???
>
> also my year-end totals look like 206 hours for a distance of 5665k.
> (3520 miles for the non-metric americans)

I'm actually pretty comfortable with either, having spent enough time in
metric countries. The trick is not to convert mentally, but to learn to
think natively in either system.

However, my bike computer is in US units because that's what everyone else
around me uses -- not to mention cue sheets and road signs.

When in Rome...

Matt O.

[di]

"Neil Brooks" > wrote in message
...
> Neil Brooks > wrote:
>
>>"di" > wrote:
>>
>>>
>
> Oh, yeah. One other thing: the Sooners WON, for $hit's sake.
> Shouldn't you be happy??
> --


I despise the Sooners especially their fans, the worst & most arrogant in
the world.

[Max Penn]

"mike" > wrote in message
news:TWxtf.5978$7x.644@trnddc03...
> I just converted my cyclocomputer from miles to kilometers. I am
> hoping an old dog can learn a new trick.
> I made the change and went for a spin, its a blast to see 30
> on the computer.
>
> Just wondering are there other metric americans out there???
>
> also my year-end totals look like 206 hours for a distance of
> 5665k. (3520 miles for the non-metric americans)
>
> Metric Mike

I'm a USAmerican but have lived more than half of 2005 in Canada. I already
spoke metric but now it is such a habit that when driving, I occasionally
will see a highway sign that might say "Eugene 100" and expect to be there
in about one hour. Then I realize I'm not driving anywhere near 100mph and
the sign is in miles not km.

I do wish there were a metric equivalent to the gallon and the foot.
Swimming pools that are depth marked something like 1.28m just don't give me
an immediate idea of what that means.until I compare it to my 190 cm height.

A tonne in Canada is what some people still call a 'long ton' in the USA and
apart from coal, it's not a typical, everyday household measurement. How
many people use coal anymore anyway.

In a curious reversal, one measure that we make in the USA in metric is not
metric in Canada. US laboratories and personal testing devices measure
blood glucose in mg/dL. In Canada it's mmol. Since I test my blood at
least once a day, I am now bi-lingual in this measure.

The railroads in Canada still use pounds and miles. Probably because it
will be a few years yet before all the work rules and government regulations
can be changed over.

I wish the USA would just make the change; but too many us are afraid it's
just another step down the road to One World Government and that hanging on
to the old style measures will help protect us from terrorists.

Max

[Leo Lichtman]

"The Wogster" wrote: (clip) Freds diner, you go about 5km down the road
here, turn right onto Fleet street (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Or how about, "Fred's Diner. You go about 5 km down the road here, turn
clockwise pi/2 radians onto Fleet Street..."

[mike]

Matt O'Toole wrote:
> On Sat, 31 Dec 2005 16:00:51 +0000, mike wrote:
>
>
>>I just converted my cyclocomputer from miles to kilometers. I am hoping an
>>old dog can learn a new trick. I made the change and went for a spin, its
>>a blast to see 30 on the computer.
>>
>>Just wondering are there other metric americans out there???
>>
>>also my year-end totals look like 206 hours for a distance of 5665k.
>>(3520 miles for the non-metric americans)
>
>
> I'm actually pretty comfortable with either, having spent enough time in
> metric countries. The trick is not to convert mentally, but to learn to
> think natively in either system.
>
> However, my bike computer is in US units because that's what everyone else
> around me uses -- not to mention cue sheets and road signs.
>
> When in Rome...
>
> Matt O.
>
cue sheets might be a problem... but i have gotten lost reading them and
using us units.

the biggest advantage I could come up with using kilometers (besides the
30 on the computer) is there is more resolution in it. there is a
smaller change in 27 to 28 kph than 16 to 17 mph. this might help in
training.

metric mike

[[email protected]]

Leo Lichtman > wrote:
> Or how about, "Fred's Diner. You go about 5 km down the road here, turn
> clockwise pi/2 radians onto Fleet Street..."

Wouldn't that be "100 grads?"


Bill


--------------------------------------------------------------
| Anyone who can't use a slide rule is a cultural illiterate, |
| and should not be allowed to vote. |
| --Robert A. Heinlein |
--------------------------------------------------------------

[[email protected]]

Max Penn > wrote:

> The railroads in Canada still use pounds and miles. Probably because it
> will be a few years yet before all the work rules and government regulations
> can be changed over.

About twenty years ago, when the change was still underway, an Air
Canada ground crew made a little boo-boo while fueling a 767. They loaded
20,000 lbs. of fuel onto it instead of 20,000 kg. Coincidentally, the
plane's fuel guages were both on the fritz at the time, so it was running
on a consumption meter, but that meter was set to assume 20,000 kg of
fuel as its starting point.
The Toronto to Vancouver flight ran out of gas over Manitoba. It
managed to glide to an emergency landing on an old WW II airstrip, but it
was a mighty close call.


Bill

----------------------------------------
| I am a nobody, and nobody is perfect. |
| Therefore I am perfect. |
-----------------------------------------

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article >,
wrote:

> Max Penn > wrote:
>
> > The railroads in Canada still use pounds and miles. Probably because it
> > will be a few years yet before all the work rules and government regulations
> > can be changed over.
>
> About twenty years ago, when the change was still underway, an Air
> Canada ground crew made a little boo-boo while fueling a 767. They loaded
> 20,000 lbs. of fuel onto it instead of 20,000 kg. Coincidentally, the
> plane's fuel guages were both on the fritz at the time, so it was running
> on a consumption meter, but that meter was set to assume 20,000 kg of
> fuel as its starting point.
> The Toronto to Vancouver flight ran out of gas over Manitoba. It
> managed to glide to an emergency landing on an old WW II airstrip, but it
> was a mighty close call.

The Gimli Glider, possibly still the heaviest glider landing* in
aviation history. Two Airbuses have pulled the same trick since, but I
don't know which of the three of them is the heaviest.

One of the odder details of the Gimli incident was that the landing
strip they hit was closed and had been converted into a race track. On
the day the 767 touched down, it was in use, and racers, fans, and crew
were literally fleeing as the plane plowed down the drag strip.

http://www.silhouet.com/motorsport/tracks/gimli.html

*The Space Shuttle is the heaviest thing that routinely lands as a
glider, but I believe the 767 is heavier still.

--
Ryan Cousineau http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos

[Ken M]

mike wrote:
> I just converted my cyclocomputer from miles to kilometers. I am
> hoping an old dog can learn a new trick.
> I made the change and went for a spin, its a blast to see 30
> on the computer.
>
> Just wondering are there other metric americans out there???
>
> also my year-end totals look like 206 hours for a distance of
> 5665k. (3520 miles for the non-metric americans)
>
> Metric Mike
I haven't switched the cyclocomputer to km yet, but I now find myself
using metric for some weight measurements and small distances in cm or
mm. I am trying.

Ken
--
[T]he bicycle is the most efficient machine ever created: Converting
calories into gas, a bicycle gets the equivalent of three thousand miles
per gallon. ~Bill Strickland, The Quotable Cyclist

Homepage: http://kcm-home.tripod.com/

[Antti Salonen]

Max Penn > wrote:

> In a curious reversal, one measure that we make in the USA in metric is not
> metric in Canada. US laboratories and personal testing devices measure
> blood glucose in mg/dL. In Canada it's mmol. Since I test my blood at
> least once a day, I am now bi-lingual in this measure.

Actually it's mmol/l. It is just as metric as mg/dl - it's just
measuring a different thing.

-as

[The Wogster]

Max Penn wrote:
> "mike" > wrote in message
> news:TWxtf.5978$7x.644@trnddc03...
>
>>I just converted my cyclocomputer from miles to kilometers. I am
>>hoping an old dog can learn a new trick.
>>I made the change and went for a spin, its a blast to see 30
>>on the computer.
>>
>>Just wondering are there other metric americans out there???
>>
>>also my year-end totals look like 206 hours for a distance of
>>5665k. (3520 miles for the non-metric americans)
>>
>>Metric Mike
>
>
> I'm a USAmerican but have lived more than half of 2005 in Canada. I already
> spoke metric but now it is such a habit that when driving, I occasionally
> will see a highway sign that might say "Eugene 100" and expect to be there
> in about one hour. Then I realize I'm not driving anywhere near 100mph and
> the sign is in miles not km.
>
> I do wish there were a metric equivalent to the gallon and the foot.
> Swimming pools that are depth marked something like 1.28m just don't give me
> an immediate idea of what that means.until I compare it to my 190 cm height.
>
> A tonne in Canada is what some people still call a 'long ton' in the USA and
> apart from coal, it's not a typical, everyday household measurement. How
> many people use coal anymore anyway.

Actually a tonne, is a metric tonne, which is 1000kg, equal to about
2200lbs.

> In a curious reversal, one measure that we make in the USA in metric is not
> metric in Canada. US laboratories and personal testing devices measure
> blood glucose in mg/dL. In Canada it's mmol. Since I test my blood at
> least once a day, I am now bi-lingual in this measure.

Actually in Canada it's millimoles per Litre (mmol/L), which means
although it's a different measure, it's still metric.

>
> The railroads in Canada still use pounds and miles. Probably because it
> will be a few years yet before all the work rules and government regulations
> can be changed over.

Most couriers do as well, but I think it's more convenience for older
users then anything else. I work for a courier, and although published
rates are in pounds and inches, rating software is able to handle both,
scales are designed to be able to handle both, and official measures are
marked inches on one side, cm on the other. As more and more customers
request it, they convert over. I think you will find that if you call
CN, and say I have a 20 000kg container that is going 1 500km they will
be able to handle that as well. Just as they easily handle English and
French.

> I wish the USA would just make the change; but too many us are afraid it's
> just another step down the road to One World Government and that hanging on
> to the old style measures will help protect us from terrorists.

Heck the USA can't even get away from the paper one dollar bill, so you
look in your wallet, think you have a pile of money, and find out it's
less then $10. I love the Canadian $1 and $2 coins, you think, Gee I'm
down to just coinage, and find out, you actually have $20

W

[Max Penn]

> wrote in message
...
> Max Penn > wrote:
>
> > The railroads in Canada still use pounds and miles. Probably because it
> > will be a few years yet before all the work rules and government
regulations
> > can be changed over.
>
> About twenty years ago, when the change was still underway, an Air
> Canada ground crew made a little boo-boo while fueling a 767. They loaded
> 20,000 lbs. of fuel onto it instead of 20,000 kg. Coincidentally, the
> plane's fuel guages were both on the fritz at the time, so it was running
> on a consumption meter, but that meter was set to assume 20,000 kg of
> fuel as its starting point.
> The Toronto to Vancouver flight ran out of gas over Manitoba. It
> managed to glide to an emergency landing on an old WW II airstrip, but it
> was a mighty close call.
>
>
> Bill

That is a new one to me. I imagine the advocates of traditional
measurements were feeling a little smug about the incident. With your
handle, aren't you concerned you may be shunned? You're the first
bandersnatch I've ever encountered, so I'll reserve judgement.

Max

[Max Penn]

"The Wogster" > wrote in message
...
> Max Penn wrote:
> > "mike" > wrote in message
> > news:TWxtf.5978$7x.644@trnddc03...
> >
> > A tonne in Canada is what some people still call a 'long ton' in the USA
and
> > apart from coal, it's not a typical, everyday household measurement.
How
> > many people use coal anymore anyway.
>
> Actually a tonne, is a metric tonne, which is 1000kg, equal to about
> 2200lbs.

I looked up the weight of a long ton using Google's conversion feature and
it says a long ton = 1.02 tonnes, rounded up. So it's approximate. (I
thought it was exact.)

>
> > In a curious reversal, one measure that we make in the USA in metric is
not
> > metric in Canada. US laboratories and personal testing devices measure
> > blood glucose in mg/dL. In Canada it's mmol. Since I test my blood at
> > least once a day, I am now bi-lingual in this measure.
>
> Actually in Canada it's millimoles per Litre (mmol/L), which means
> although it's a different measure, it's still metric.

I stand corrected. I was thinking that because it was an atomic measure it
wasn't the same standard. Of course with home testing and most lab testing
both results are interpolated (or are they extrapolated?) based on the
conductivity of the blood.

Last May a taxi driver told me that Southern Ontario had some warmer days in
April: over forty degrees he said. I thought that was extraordinary (talk
about global warming) until I realized he did the conversion into Farenheit
because he knew I was from south of the border.

Max

[Mark Hickey]

"Max Penn" > wrote:

>I'm a USAmerican but have lived more than half of 2005 in Canada. I already
>spoke metric but now it is such a habit that when driving, I occasionally
>will see a highway sign that might say "Eugene 100" and expect to be there
>in about one hour. Then I realize I'm not driving anywhere near 100mph and
>the sign is in miles not km.

I was once traveling to Yurrup pretty regularly, and arrived at Heath
Row airport in London pretty jet-lagged one morning. I rented a sedan
and headed down the M4 to Basingstoke, with little traffic. I was
holding a nice conservative (no pun intended) 100 km/h, wondering why
everyone was going so slow...

.... 'til I rememebered that the UK uses MPH on auto speedometers.
D'Oh!

Mark "fortunately the police weren't around" Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame

[GaryG]

"Sorni" > wrote in message
...
> mike wrote:
>
> > I just converted my cyclocomputer from miles to kilometers.
>
> I hope the NSA sees this! Get him, boys...

Ummmm...based on recent news reports, I'm pretty sure they already have.

GG

>
> <eg> 8-O <eg>
>
>